I’ve been making these DIY Pom Pom Cheer Sticks for the last few days and they are SO FUN! Originally, I made them for a Friday Five Live episode over on Facebook.
When KATV invited me over to make a football themed craft, I knew these would be perfect. And then, I totally blanked on how to make them. Ha! I almost gave up and tried something else but I knew in my heart I really wanted to make these fun cheerleading pom poms again. I finally re-figured-out my process and the show was able to go on!
Watch me make these on KATV, our local ABC affiliate.
** Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.See my full disclosure here. **
These fun and easy cheer poms can be made in any color combination for high school, college, or even professional sports teams. Let’s make ’em. Go Team!
DIY Pom Pom Cheer Sticks
Football season is around the corner. Don’t be left empty-handed as your team takes the field. DIY Pom Poms can be easily customized . You could even make these for non-football parties!
I like to mix up the colors of my fave team by adding a sparkle factor: shimmery silver mylar paper acts as an awesome accent color for your team colors.
Supplies:
- 9 sheets of coordinating tissue paper
- Mylar, optional
- Scissor
- Packing Tape
- Thin catalog or newspaper
- Tulle for decorating, optional
Method:
Prepare the “stick” part of these pom pom cheer sticks: take a thin magazine, catalog, or newspaper and cut width-wise about 4-5 inches tall. Roll the catalog into a handle and secure with tape. You can decorate the handle with ribbon, tulle, or both now or after you’ve attached the tissue paper. I like to decorate before.
1. Layer sheets of tissue and mylar in the order you’d like.
2. Cut in half.
3. Take one half and fold that in half again, top to bottom. Place the fold at the top.
4. Using the scissor, make one cut in the middle all the way up, leaving an inch or so border uncut at the top.
5. Fold tissue/mylar in half again, right to left.
6. Cut in the middle, all the way up to that one inch border.
7. Fold in half again, right to left.
8. Cut up the middle to the border.
9.. Make one cut on each side of the middle cut. Strips should be about an inch wide.
10. Unfold the length of tissue. Should have strips of tissue about an inch wide and a border along that top fold.
11. Take the rolled up catalog half and place along the top of the fold and begin rolling the tissue layers around the catalog.
12. Secure the end of the rolled tissue with tape.
13. Poof out the tissue strips and decorate the handle.
Tips for Making Pom Poms
- The “poofing” part can be a little tedious but it’s worth it. Be gentle, the tissue paper tears easily.
- Trim the length of tissue and mylar to even out the sides.
- Use as many layers as you want. The more layers of tissue, the bigger and pouffier your pom pom will be.
- When cutting the original slits, make more cuts closer together if you’d like.
- Decorate the handle with colorful ribbon. I had some Razorback ribbon in my stash and since they are Arkansas’s fave college team, it was perfect.
- Shake the pom poms upside down to open them up more.
- If they rip or tear off, don’t worry, there is plenty of tissue and you won’t even notice.
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